The Unduly Forgotten Scholar of the Hungarian Language Renewal Period: Count József Teleki Cover Image

A nyelvújítás méltatlanul elfeledett tudós nyelvésze, gróf Teleki József
The Unduly Forgotten Scholar of the Hungarian Language Renewal Period: Count József Teleki

Author(s): János Péntek
Subject(s): Cultural history, History of ideas, Hungarian Literature, 19th Century
Published by: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület
Keywords: József Teleki; language renewal; Ferenc Kazinczy; Hungarian Academy of Sciences; Transylvania;

Summary/Abstract: Count Teleki, with multiple Transylvanian relations, had a special role as a linguist in the history of the renewal of the Hungarian language. He was the promoter and first elected president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1825, until his death. Between 1842-1848 he was also the Governor of Transylvania. In his first linguistic work he thoroughly evaluated at a high theoretical level - and thus concluded - the controversies related to language reform, and in the second he described how the Hungarian language dictionary should be the most important tool in the continuous formation of the language. As a Governor of Transylvania, he had the historic task of proclaiming the law on the liberation of serfs in Cluj on 18 June 1848. In Transylvania, without a doubt, this was the most important conquest of the revolution of 1848, common to both Hungarians and Romanians, a conquest which, in general, is not referred to on the occasion of commemorative festivities.

  • Issue Year: LXXXIII/2021
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 48-64
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Hungarian